Michael Sanford, MD

ALL IN THE FAMILY

In 2008, Michael Sanford, MD, Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Eisenhower Medical Center, received the Extraordinary ACTS Award from Riverside County EMS (Emergency Medical Services) for assisting at the scene of an automobile accident. Sanford helped triage four injured victims and stayed while waiting for another ambulance. What would be considered a heroic act by most is just part of being a physician for Dr. Sanford and helping those when they need it most.

As an assistant clinical professor of surgery at Loma Linda University, Dr. Sanford says medicine “runs in the family.”His father has been a urologist in Los Angeles and has practiced for almost 40 years. “Medicine is something I have always enjoyed. It is a fun thing for me,” Dr. Sanford explains of his choice of medicine. “So, I thought, why not carry on the family tradition?” Sanford completed his undergraduate work at the University of California, San Diego, his medical school training at New York Medical College and his residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

“What I love about urology is that I get to take care of adults and children, and men and women of all ages. I perform surgery and take care of all of these different types of people in the short- and long-term,” says Dr. Sanford. “Urology is one of a very few fields that allows you to take care of everybody—from newborns to people over 100 years old. It is surgery, it is medicine, and a little bit of everything, and that is what really appeals to me.”

“The best thing I do is to help people get relief from their pain, and thereby, restore the quality of their lives.”

Dr. Sanford’s patients come to him with everything including kidney stones, urinary tract infections, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, prostate enlargement, incontinence and erectile dysfunction. “Most people will see a urologist in their lifetime,” says Dr. Sanford. “The good news is that most of the issues that urologists see are treatable. Most people get better.” In addition, most urological problems that require surgery are now treated with minimally invasive surgery. Sanford is one of four urologists at Eisenhower Medical Center currently using the da Vinci® Surgical System, state-of-theart robotic technology that enables new, minimally invasive options for complex surgical procedures.

When not in the operating room, Dr. Sanford enjoys traveling with his wife Lori, an attorney, and his four children: Daniel, Abigail, Rachel and Ariel. “We prefer to travel to national parks. We love the Grand Canyon and Death Valley. Both places have such varied geology, plant and animal life and weather patterns. We also love to go to Joshua Tree and Sequoia National Parks, but I think Saguaro National Park is our favorite.”

Dr. Sanford is very active in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, being an Eagle Scout himself. He is an assistant scoutmaster in Boy Scouts and a troop leader in Girl Scouts. He is also involved in the ham radio emergency services community. “It is an interest that started in college, and I’ve been doing it for about 20 years. Ham radio operators are volunteers that assist the police and fire services in the event of an emergency by relaying messages.”

Dr. Sanford has been on staff at Eisenhower Medical Center since 2000. “I’ve always been amazed at the caliber of medical care in our community,” he shares. “People do not have to travel to get first-class treatment. There are very few things we can’t do at this hospital.”